News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-10-13
THE NEGROES ON THE COAST.
A Graphic Sketch of Life Among
the Southern Freedmen.
From the Augusta Ga Gazette. l

From the Augusta (Ga.) Gazette.l
Chapters have been written about
him. Only yesterday we spoke of his
superstition at some length, yet We did
not begin to exhaust the subject. To-
day we propose to sketch briefly his
general mode of life, without dwelling
upon any one of his characteristics. Let
us take the Island of Hilton Head,
which is not many miles from Savan-
nah and nearer still to Beaufort, doz-
en- miles or more of whose magnificent
beach is washed by Calaboge Sound and
be said that is about seventeen miles in
length by about five in width; that it is
barren enough to grow pea vines and
the exception of perhaps five hundred
acres of cleared land, it is densely COW
cred with pine, cedar and palmetto, in
whose thickets deer, turkey and smaller
game, notably the raccoon, abound. OF
| the people who inhabit it much more
may be said Two weeks ago the writer,
while temporarily seafaring, encounter
ed q terrific gale off Hilton Head, and
was driven upon its arid shores, where
he was forced, weather or not, to remain
for q week. 1t may be we'll, in order
the m ore faithfully to describe the man
ners and customs of the natives, to
sketch briefly our enforced soiourn
among them, and this we will endeavor
to do. 1t was late in August when the
squall struck us. Our boat was I'M
wieldy and anything but seaworthy, but
with all sails set we managed to keep
| her before the wind, and clumsy as she
was we flew through the breakers at
mad rate. We crossed Broad River
furiously, and our landing, most dan
| gerous feat under such circumstances,
was accomplished with marvellous good
luck. Having drawn our craft into a
| creek, where she found partial protec-
ton from the gale, we turned our atten-
ton to the "native." They had gather
ed upon the beach in great numbers
! men, women and children-viewing us
with gaping curiosity. Not that the
sight of a boat was a novelty, but that
the strange faces in it awoke astonish-
ment. if not wonder The men were
brawny, muscular fellows, dressed in
every variety of patched garments; the
women wore short frocks, with no head
or foot dress; the larger children of
either sex boosted single garment,
Mother Hubbard in appearance, and the
younger children, probably from ten
and under, wore only-their skins
Amid this collection of human incon-
gruity we made our bow and begged to
be shown to the nearest hotel. An in
credulous guffaw, that rose in chorus
above the bowling of the wind, ans
wered US, and we were pointed to the
"Islant," whose barrenness was decided
" intensified by the woebegoneness of
the numerous log huts that punctuated
and emphasized it.
Except that they were adorned with
clapboard roofs, these habitations were
models of pig-pens, with a hole in one
end for door and clay chimney in
the other. They had once been clayed
over-that is, the inch or SO of space
between the logs had been stopped up
with clay-but the clay had long since
been attracted by gravitation, and the
cracks had never been refilled. There |
were no floors; mother earth was plenty |
good enough. There were some benches !
and pine table, but no chairs. Every |
thing was smoke-begrimed not except |
ing the Police Gazette pictures that were |
pasted about in impossible places. The |
furniture, other than that already de- |
scribed, consisted for the most part of |
tin pans and cans, pots and pals, dogs |
(and what dogs), cats (and oh, what |
cats), and an occasional chicken worth |
n quarter. There were also odors of |
dried fish, and crab-like odors, and sug-
gestions of mud. There were occasional |
optical illusions of watermelon rinds, |
and quite often a glimpse of raccoon |
skin stretched proudly against some |
favored square foot of smoothness.
There We're fish scales, oyster shells and |
crab backs ahundantly strewn about, |
and plentifully interspersed with the |
bones of forgotten sharks.
All this wholesome sight we saw with
less of wonder than may be supposed,
for we had been among this people be-
fore, who are peculiar people, and who
dwell exclusively upon the islands of
the Carolina coast. But what of their
customs and manners2 Well, they live
on fish, oysters, crabs and other produc-
tons of the salt water. They plant po-
tatoes, corn and cotton, and they make
enough by this means to clothe them
selves, or, more accurately, to half
clothe themselves, but they seldom
make anything over. Their corn and
some of their potatoes are put aside to
be eaten through the season Tor as long
as it lasts, rather) with the fish in pros
pect, but the fish in prospect is univer-
sally depended upon to keep the wolf
from the door. The cotton and the po-
tatoes, except the remnant mentioned,
together with slim supply of chickens
and eggs, are taken to Savannah or
Beaufort in broken lots and exchanged
for clothing and "part cash" This is a
hasty outline of their customs. AS to
their manners, they have none. They
do just exactly as they please in all
things. They dress as they please, go
where they please, and say what they
please after their manner of saying it.
Their children, male and female, are
taught to row and fish from infancy,
and many boat-load of darkey damsels
have we seen battling manfully q with |
the waves. And their language great |
Caesar. 1t is -splitting-simply mon
strous. We shall not attempt to de-
scribe it, since we have attempted it be-
fore and failed.
To conclude, this people, we verify |
believe, is the happiest people upon |
earth. What have they to worry or dis
tress them? What to concern them at |
all, save the finding of bait and the |
finding of fish, and the occasional |
catching of coon, all of which is sep
arate delight and concerns them only in |
so much as it gives them pleasure. And
the man of the world-of the different, |
the widely different worldwide is given |
to see and reflect upon this exclusive
and peculiar people, can but say to !
himself afterward, "here ignorance is
bliss"